Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-NC) got an earful from pearl-clutching liberal panelists on CNN who said she was being “disrespectful” to Vice President Kamala Harris for intentionally mispronouncing her first name.
The kerfuffle took place on Abby Phillip’s Thursday program and featured commentary on a package examining pro-Trump, Black-owned businesses selling merchandise for the Republican’s campaign. One Black professor sitting next to Mace didn’t have to listen for long before being triggered by her comments. “This congresswoman is a wonderful human being,” he said, referring to Mace, “but when you disrespect Kamala Harris by saying you will call her whatever you want, I know you don’t intend to be that way, but that’s the history and legacy of white disregard of Black people.”
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“Oh, so now you’re calling me a racist?” the lawmaker shot back. “I didn’t say that! I didn’t say the word racist,” he replied as both waved their hands and talked over one another. “That is complete BS,” said Mace while he went on. “You don’t have to intend racism to accomplish it. Your disrespect of Kamala Harris is part and parcel of a tradition of disrespect.” Soon the shouting match enveloped the entire panel of guests as Phillip tried to regain control.
But Rep. Mace wasn’t letting her fellow guest get in the last word. “You know what’s disgusting to women? It’s her disrespect of women. She doesn’t know what a woman is, and 25 years ago…”
“White women don’t have the ability to tell Black women who paid the price of blood to make this country what it is to tell them that they’re not real women!” he said with visible disgust in his eyes. Mace stood her ground, reminding the professor that she was the first woman to graduate from the military Citadel and “fought for women” in her own right. “So pronounce her name right!” he shouted multiple times. She referred to the vice president as “Kam-AL-a” again, sending the panel into a frenzy. “You’re doing this on purpose!” shouted another guest at the table as he angrily pointed at the Republican.
WATCH:
The debate over Vice President Harris’s name and racial legacy has overshadowed the race for the White House since former President Donald Trump questioned whether she was “really Black” during a recent interview in front of the National Association of Black Journalists. The remark prompted bipartisan criticism, but on Thursday Trump held another hour-long press conference where he insisted he has a right to attack Harris’s character. To a lesser degree, those personal attacks have been reinforced by allies like Rep. Mace who lean into her alternative pronouncement of the Democrat’s first name, a charge reminiscent of conservatives referring to former President Barack Obama by including his middle name, “Hussein.”
The Harris campaign has largely dismissed the attacks by Trump, calling it the “same old show” that he relied on to win in 2016. The debate is part of a larger narrative around Harris’s rise as the first Black female to lead a major party ticket and has taken hold as polls show her tied or increasing a small lead over the Republican as he continues to seek out an effective line of attack to gain back some lost ground. Trump has also ridiculed his opponent as “not very smart” and accused her of ducking debates as well as standard media appearances on the campaign trail.
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